Michael Young has started at third base 64 times in two years. / Matt Slocum, AP

by Paul White and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

After posting the franchise's worst record in 47 years, the Boston Red Sox were aggressive in addressing many of their deficiencies. But in no other facet of the game are they counting so much on returning players than starting pitching.

The only newcomer to the rotation is Ryan Dempster. Combine his best season with those of Jon Lester, John Lackey and Clay Buchholz, and you get a 72-31 record with a 2.91 ERA. Combine them last year (Lackey missed the season after Tommy John elbow surgery), and you get 32-30, 4.30.

For a team that finished 24 games out of the playoffs, the opportunity for improvement is there. So is uncertainty.

Start with Lackey - the Red Sox will Saturday, pitching him in the first exhibition against major league opposition. His surgery was in November 2011, which should be plenty of recovery time, but he's 34 and his ERA had climbed four years in a row before the injury.

Buchholz has dealt with a hamstring problem, which could slow his evaluation. Dempster had a 3.86 ERA over the previous 41/2 seasons in the National League but ballooned to 5.09 after a trade to Texas last July.

The Red Sox's alternatives after No. 5 starter Felix Doubront, 25, are younger and less experienced. This isn't about taking their time tuning up for these starters. The team needs to know they're at their pre-2012 levels.

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Phillies: Not so Young at third base

Michael Young can claim third base as his usual position - in 2009-10 anyway. But he started only 25 games there last year and 39 in 2011, while doing what plenty of 36-year-olds do: Play more at first base and even more at DH.

With the Philadelphia Phillies, Young will not have those options. So as Grapefruit League play dawns, manager Charlie Manuel will have to find the right workload to balance Young's need to get comfortable at the position with not creating wear and tear and on the oldest body in the starting lineup.

Alternatives are limited. Josh Fields is the only other player in camp who has started as many as 50 major league games at third, and he hasn't played there in the big leagues since 2010.

And Young himself is limited. His total fielding runs metric since he moved to third has been negative every year and gotten worse each season.

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Tigers: Late-inning audition

Bruce Rondon is a big man with a bigger fastball.

But the Detroit Tigers are in huge trouble if this 22-year-old isn't ready to be a major league closer.

General manager Dave Dombrowski is certain this 6-3, 265-pounder can make the jump from Class AA (OK, he had eight innings at AAA) to the ninth inning for a team that plans to make a return trip to the World Series.

He'd better be. He resisted Rafael Soriano on the free agent market. He didn't explore trades. And his only alternatives should Rondon fail, even if it's just in the short term, are guys the Tigers only grudgingly put on the line when last year's closer, Jose Valverde, faded badly late in the season and into the playoffs.

Octavio Dotel and Phil Coke have tried their hands at closing. Dotel once saved 36 games in a season, but that was nine years ago when he was 30. Coke never had more than two saves in a season.

A little bit of failure this spring might be good for Rondon. Nobody questions the side-armed 100-mph fastball. But he's had control issues in the minors and the biggest question will be how he bounces back from a loss or blown save.

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Giants: Seeking a Lincecum renaissance

Tim Lincecum's brutal 2012 season was presaged by a spring in which his velocity dipped and he registered a 5.70 ERA.

He went on to allow the most runs and put up the highest ERA (5.18) of any NL qualifier, an embarrassing turn of events for a pitcher who won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2008-'09 and led the league in strikeouts three years in a row.

Lincecum, entering into his final season before free agency, says his approach to Cactus League games will be different this time.

"In years past I used the spring just to get my work in, and if things go south, no big deal,'' he said. "Now it's like I have to prove myself. People are trying to make the team, and I have to approach it that way.''

Despite his star turn as a reliever in last year's postseason, Lincecum is not exactly pitching for his spot in the rotation. The San Francisco Giants don't have many options, and it's doubtful they'd be willing to pay him $22 million this year to come out of the bullpen.

Instead, they're hoping his offseason recommitment to conditioning will pay off. Lincecum hired new trainers and worked on strengthening his core and legs. He gained about eight pounds, up to 170, and said he feels in better shape.

"Pound for pound,'' he said, "I feel like I'm back to where I can be (successful) as a starting pitcher.''

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Indians: Making the new parts fit

After a rare offseason splurge that saw them spend more than $120 million on free agents, including Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn and Brett Myers, as well as trades and the hiring of manager Terry Francona, the Cleveland Indians look poised to at least challenge for a wild card.

That is, if the rotation responds. Cleveland starting pitchers had the second-worst ERA in the AL last season at 5.25, and the new additions only partially address that area.

The top two starters, Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez, combined to go 20-32 with a 5.15 ERA in 2012.

Then, the unknowns really begin. Myers pitched exclusively out of the bullpen last season. Carlos Carrasco is on his way back from Tommy John surgery. Zach McAllister must build on a decent rookie season, or maybe prized but enigmatic prospect Trevor Bauer - acquired from Arizona - will emerge.

Beyond that, they're taking flyers on Daisuke Matsuzaka, who struggled mightily (1-7, 8.28 ERA) in his return from elbow surgery, and Scott Kazmir, who has pitched in one major league game in the last two years.

Unless a few of them come through, even Swisher's perpetually sunny disposition may turn sour.